NICOLA MORGAN

For as long as I can remember, I have loved messing around with words. I spent 19 years trying to write a publishable novel before I came up with Mondays are Red. I think I dreamt about achieving that at least once a day for those 19 years. Then it was another two years before Mondays are Red actually appeared on the shelves, so that was a massive 21 years of trying to get a novel published.

Either I was very keen  -  or I was rubbish ...

Before Mondays are Red, I’d had more than 50 early learning books published. Many were (and still are) best-sellers and I once had seven books in the Top 10 children’s non-fiction list, at the same time. But all that time a published novel was my real goal. I never stopped trying. I knew that whatever happened I would keep writing fiction for ever, even if no-one ever read it. I simply couldn’t stop.

After university, I sent countless pieces to countless magazines and publishers, wrote two and a half adult novels and received in return enough rejection letters to fill a large skip. My most memorable rejection consisted of my own letter returned with the word ’NO!’ scrawled across it in pencil. I did have a few small things published, and some very encouraging letters from publishers.

In 1990 I was short-listed for the Ian St James Awards for fiction. Ah, I thought - fame and fortune here I come. It didn’t quite work out like that and nothing else happened, fiction-wise, for years. I had a large number of magazine articles published, though. And I did win a pen.

I have now had more than 80 books published, including teenage novels, younger fiction, home learning books, Thomas the Tank Engine books, a Greek history book and other non-fiction -  notably, Blame My Brain, which looks at the amazing teenage brain.

Q: Did you like writing at school?
A: I loved it. I loved everything about English - even grammar. In fact that was one of my favourite bits. I felt that understanding how the bricks of language fit together perfectly and strongly would help me build powerful writing. For me, learning Latin and Greek was crucial to this. Now, I often break the rules, but I do it for a reason.

Oddly, I never actually wrote a story until I was 14. Instead, I always turned every writing task into a description or poem. I remember that story though - it was called The Hostage and was in my first public exam. I do NOT recommend using an exam to try out a new style....

I wrote lots of poetry, too - horribly gloomy stuff. Once, my teacher was so worried that she threatened to contact my parents unless I stopped sounding so depressed. But I’ve always written about things I imagine, more than things I experience. That’s the whole point about imagination.

Q: What do you like about writing fiction as opposed to non-fiction?
A: It uses an entirely different part of my brain. It is freeing and exciting. I love the power of words, the sounds they make and the different pictures they conjure. When I write, I am playing with words, and I always read my work aloud so I can hear it, too. The sound and rhythm of words are very important to me. When the sound, rhythm and meaning blend perfectly, that’s when language becomes music. I’m not saying I achieve that, just that I try.

Q: Did you always want to write for younger people?
A: I write for anyone who will read it - I don’t care how old you are! (And actually, I hate age-categories  -  because they make other people feel they shouldn’t read a book). But, no - my fiction used to be for adults and I remember the moment when I changed: on holiday in Crete, my whole family read David Almond’s Skellig and it completely altered my perception of what books for younger people could do. My daughters were about 10 and 8, so it seemed the perfect inspiration to move over to writing for younger people. Young imaginations are more free, somehow, and authors have a wonderful chance to stretch their own imaginations and simply make the words fly.

In a way, writing for young people is harder. You can’t get away with endless pages of self-indulgent waffle. Young people only bother to finish the book if it’s more powerful than football, or computers, or TV.

Q: Do you have an agent?
A: Yes, thank goodness. I didn’t for a long time, but she came on board after seeing the first draft of Mondays are Red. She does all the things I hate - working out contracts and making sure I get the best possible deal from publishers. When I have a new idea, I discuss it with her first and she gives me an honest and expert opinion.

Q: What books do you like reading?
A: I usually only enjoy very modern fiction. Nineteenth century fiction does nothing for me, although I did have my Thomas Hardy phase. From the mid-twentieth century, I loved The Gormenghast Trilogy, Lord of the Flies and The Lord of the Rings. But you really have to go to the very end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st to find the authors I most enjoy. I read a lot of "teenage" books, because so much of it is brilliantly written  -  more adults should give it a try.

I like what I call ’books with soul’. David Almond, Julie Bertagna and Kevin Brooks write books with soul: books which grab me emotionally and do more than tell a story. Another big favourite is Robert Cormier. I also loved The Moth Diaries by Rachel Klein  -  possibly my single favourite book ever. My favourite "adult" books are The Countrywoman by Paul Smith, Atonement by Ian McEwan, The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood, Drowning Ruth by Christina Schwartz and anything at all by Bernice Rubens.